


Jeff The Killer

by Xelkyrien



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Anger Management, Blood, Blood and Gore, Brutal Murder, Bullying, Chelsea Grin - Freeform, Dark Thoughts, Descent into Madness, Fights, Fire, Gen, Glasgow Smile, High School, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Insanity, Insecurity, Knives, Madness, Major Character Injury, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Murder, Near Death Experiences, Rewrite, Secrets, Self-Esteem Issues, Teenage Drama, Teenagers, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24362140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelkyrien/pseuds/Xelkyrien
Summary: 16-year-old Jeffrey Woods has just moved into a new house and started a new school where being “The New Kid” has painted a target on his back. As the situation at school worsens something that's been lurking in the darkest recesses of his mind is finally brought into the light.This is my rewrite of the original Jeff The Killer story because both it and the 2015 rewrite aren’t very well written.
Relationships: Jeffrey Woods | Jeff the Killer & Liu Woods | Homicidal Liu
Kudos: 15





	Jeff The Killer

**Author's Note:**

> So, I was really into creepypasta a while back and I still love the classics like Slenderman, Ben Drowned, Eyeless Jack, and of course, Jeff the Killer. It has nostalgia value but I have to admit, Jeff’s story is not the best. It’s pretty poorly written and very unrealistic at times, even considering that the setting is in America where reality isn’t very realistic at times. Even so, I still like it and Jeff.  
> I can’t say the same for the 2015 rewrite. Not to be harsh, but I actually find it worse than the original. It’s not really written any better. It’s much more boring. All of the characters are unlikable and Jeff and Liu come across like thugs. Jeff’s parents seem like bigger monsters than he is.  
> So, yeah, I tried my hand at rewriting the story and I’m just going to hope it’s at least a little better. While reading please keep in mind that I don't have a beta reader so I might not catch all the mistakes.

“Hello, Jeff. It’s nice to see you again. You’ve missed your last few sessions. Would you like to talk about what’s been happening?” A kind-eyed brunette woman asked the pale teenager sitting in one of the chairs across from her. He was looking off to the side towards the book shelf, chin propped up on his fist with his elbow resting on the arm of the chair. Anybody looking at him would have guessed he hadn’t heard her, but after a moment blue eyes turned to look at the young therapist, then immediately turned away again. Instead of answering the question he stated, “You changed your hair since the last time I was here.”

“Yes,” the woman replied, absently running a hand through her new pixie cut, “but that’s not why we’re here. Let’s talk about you. What have _you_ been up to these last few weeks?”

Jeffrey Woods remained silent for a few minutes, the events of the last three weeks playing back in his mind. None of them were very good memories and he wasn’t keen on sharing them. The only person he really told about anything these days was his brother, Liu, and that was only because he knew his sibling wouldn’t say anything to their parents. He glanced over to his therapist again. The woman was waiting patiently for him to speak. He still recalled what she told him when he first met her several years before about doctor-patient confidentiality. Back then his grandparents had just died and his temper had started to get out of hand so his parents thought it would be a good idea for him to see somebody about it. She had told him at his first session with her that unless he was in serious danger everything he told her would remain strictly between them. He could tell her what was going on, but he would have to choose his words carefully.

“My dad got a big promotion at his job and it came with a huge raise, so he and mom decided to move us out of our apartment into a real house.” Jeff sighed, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. The teen’s clothes were ill-fitted, hanging from his thin frame and making him look very small. There was already a tear in the sleeve he was playing with from months of fidgeting. He paid it no mind.

“That’s quite a big change.” The short-haired woman remarked, prompting him to go on. The sixteen-year-old boy nodded in response, “Yeah. It’s all the way on the other side of the city so Liu and I had to change schools too.”

The doctor nodded as she spoke, “I see. Have you made any new friends at your new school?”

“No... Not really…” Jeff answered, the corners of his lips pulling downward into a frown, “It’s not easy being the ‘New Kid’.”

“What do mean?” The therapist asked him after quickly writing something on the notepad she held in her hands. Jeff’s frown only grew more pronounced. This was the part he had been worried about. He had already made up his mind to tell her, but he couldn’t tell her much. He couldn’t tell her about the ‘Welcome to the school!’ beating he had received from three of his classmates. He couldn’t tell her about how those same kids stole his school bag and threw it in the pool in the gym, ruining all of his notebooks and his class schedule. He couldn’t tell her that they took his lunch tray right out of his hands and poured what was formerly his drink over his head when he told them to give it back. He couldn’t tell her about how they decided to look through his phone and read some of his texts out loud before deleting everything on it, constantly tossing it between the three of them as he tried desperately to snatch it back. He couldn’t tell her about how they decided that he would be doing all of their homework for the rest of the year and that he was pretty sure they ended up cracking his ribs when he refused. Worst of all, he couldn’t tell her that when he reported all of this to the dean _he_ was the one to end up with detention because the man in charge of discipline at the school was the father of one of the bullies. He had already thought of so much that he had to keep from his therapist and that was only his first day of school. It only got worse after that. As he worked out exactly how to answer in his mind he glanced at the doctor again. The brunette woman was once more waiting patiently, nothing but kindness in her brown eyes.

Eventually he found the words to say and replied, dark emotions bubbling up at the thought of his tormentors. They washed over him like ice water, freezing him to the core and adding an unsettling chill to his tone, “There are some kids that I share every class with and they’re… not very nice. The leader, Randy, is _basically_ the king of the school. He and his friends gave me a not-so-warm welcome.”

“And how did that make you feel?” came the standard question. The teen had been expecting it and already had his answer, “Angry, maybe a little resentful. I _wanted_ to get back at them, but don’t worry, I didn’t. I walked away like the pamphlet suggested. Things aren’t the same as they used to be. I’m older now. I have better control over my temper.”

The doctor put down her pen, having been scribbling notes about what he had said, and asked, “Have you told your parents about any of this?”

“No! And you can’t either!” the teenager replied hastily, his eyes snapping up to meet hers. There was something almost dangerous lurking within those icy blue orbs, something the woman had seen a few times before while speaking with the young man sitting across from her. Just as quickly as it appeared it faded away again and the boy cast his gaze towards the bookshelf once more, drawing his knees up and hugging them to his chest, his voice becoming quiet, “There’s no reason they would need to know about it. It’s not… It’s not that bad.”

“Alright.” The young doctor sighed, “But if things do get bad don’t just sit back and let it happen. I think that’s our time for today. I’ll see you next week.”

Jeff nodded and unfolded himself from the chair. He picked his bag up from the floor and slung the strap over his shoulder before making his way to the door. The boy had one foot in the hallway when the hesitant voice of his doctor stopped him in his tracks, “Oh, and Jeff, I need you to ask your parents to come in with you next week.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell them!” The teen protested, turning back around to face her, a look of betrayal etched across his face.

“And I won’t. I promise.” The therapist reassured him, “You haven’t told me anything that would be cause to break our confidentiality agreement. There’s something else that I need to discuss with them regarding your condition.”

“Oh. Is it about my temper? I swear I’ve gotten better.” at her reply Jeff let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, calming visibly. She gave him a small smile, “You’ve made excellent progress. I’m just a little concerned that the problem may be more than just anger issues. I’d like to have you reassessed. That’s all.”

* * *

Morning arrived quickly, and with it the beginning of another week in Hell. Jeff cracked his eyes open at the sound of his alarm clock, groaning and reluctantly crawling out from under the covers. The first thing he did was cross his room and turn off the alarm. After a few days where he hit snooze and didn’t wake up in time for school his mother had placed the device as far away from where he slept as his new room would allow so he would have no choice but to get up if he wanted to silence the incessant beeping.

The groggy teen proceeded to get dressed, grabbing random articles of clothing from his closet. He threw on the jeans and t-shirt then slipped on one of his white hoodies. He had to dig around under his bed for a few seconds to find his shoes, but soon enough he was heading downstairs where most of his family was already gathered at the dining room table for breakfast. The boy absently waved goodbye to his father as he passed him on the way there. Peter Woods worked in an office building in the city in some sort of marketing position. He always left for work right around the time that his sons were waking up for school. Despite everything else that had changed in the last three weeks, that remained constant.

“Hey, sweetie. I made waffles for breakfast.” Jeff’s mother told him as he entered the dining room. Margaret Woods was the stay-at-home mom of two teenage boys and was always around to make breakfast and dinner for her family but often spent the afternoons out somewhere with her friends. That meant that the boys usually had the house to themselves for a few hours after school.

Jeff nodded to his mother as he moved over to the dining room table, taking a seat next to his brother. Moments later a plate of waffles was placed in front of him. He gave Margaret a mumbled ‘thank you’ and dug in, tearing into the tasty pastry with his fork and shoveling it into his mouth. It wasn’t as sweet without some type of syrup or topping but Jeff wasn’t yet awake enough to care about the flavor. Across the table his mother carefully cut her meal apart into neat squares. The woman sighed, “Jeff, really. Don’t eat so much in one bite. You could choke to death.”

The boy only grumbled in response but started taking smaller bites while his brother snickered next to him. By the time the meal was drawing to a close Jeff was fully awake and enthusiastically chatting with his sibling about the new episode of a show they watched on television the night before, pointing out the plot holes and speculating about what next week’s episode might have in store. When their plates were empty Jeff got up to take both of them to the kitchen, while his mother frowned at his outfit, “I wish you would put a little more color into your wardrobe, dear. Monochrome is so drab.”

“I like my clothes, mom.” Jeff sighed, rolling his eyes. He and his mother seemed to have this conversation every other day and it always ended the same way. The skinny teen knew she was probably just concerned about him, just like his doctor was concerned about him, just like his brother was concerned about him, just like everybody seemed to be concerned about him. He wished they wouldn’t be. He was fine. Really.

“We have more money now. I could pick you up some new clothes while I’m out today. Maybe something in blue or green? Oh, or red? How does that sound?” Margaret suggested, hopefully, to her son as he took the plates away. Jeff rolled his eyes again, calling back to her, “No, thanks, mom! I’m good!”

“Ah, as fun as this’s been, we gotta get to school.” Liu cut in, redirecting the conversation for his sibling. The more colorfully dressed of the two brothers grabbed his backpack off of the back of his chair and sprang out of his seat with the kind of energy only a true morning person could muster so early in the day. He darted out of the room, waving to his mother, “Later! Love you, mom!”

“Bye, mom. Love you.” Jeff too bid Margaret farewell, hoisting his bag over his shoulder and hurrying to catch up with his sibling. They barely caught their mother’s “Love you too, boys!” before they were out the door and walking down the street in the direction of Jeff’s least favorite place on Earth.

* * *

By the time the Woods brothers arrived at their school there were already dozens of students standing around the building, idly chatting as they waited for first period to begin. Buses were still arriving to drop more students off and there were no doubt many more teenagers already inside. The siblings parted ways as they approached the structure. Liu needed to talk to his chemistry teacher about the assignment he was given on Friday, so he said goodbye to his brother, leaving Jeff to his own devices.

Seconds after Liu vanished from sight Jeff felt a sharp pain in the back of his knee as an object made contact and found himself falling forward. He landed hard on his knees and palms on the sidewalk, more pain shooting up his arms into his shoulders and through his legs. He felt his bag torn away from him and heard it unzipped, the person now in possession of it rifling through the papers within.

 _‘And so it begins…’_ was the only true thought to enter Jeff’s mind as he sat up, doing his best to ignore the aching in his arms and knees. Along with that thought came frustration and anger that the boy forced down. A well-muscled teenager stepped into his line of sight with Jeff’s bag in hand, flanked by a tall rotund boy on one side and a kid that bared striking resemblance to a stick bug on the other. All three faces were familiar to the pale teen by now and never a welcomed sight. Randy dropped the bag to the ground in front of him, sneering down at his prey.

“Thanks for the homework, loser.” The bully said, waving around the papers he had taken from Jeff’s bag. Randy then turned on his heel and began walking away, “Troy, Keith, Let’s go!”

Troy, the bulkier of Randy’s lackeys, and Keith, the walking toothpick, followed their leader into the building at his command. For a moment Jeff just sat there glaring after them. He was seething. He’d had three weeks of this and he’d already had enough. How was he supposed to put up with it for another two and a half years? He shouldn’t just sit by quietly and take it. He should _do something_ about it.

Anger burned in his core, drawing nasty thoughts into his mind about the three boys and images of himself putting them in their place, giving them a taste of their own medicine. The more he thought about it the darker and more sinister those thoughts became. Something cold began to settle into his bones and seeped into his core, replacing the fires of rage with an ominous chill that promised to freeze his heart solid. The images in his head slowly morphed from returning what his bullies dished out to outright torture, peeling sections of their skin off slowly with a butcher’s knife as they screamed and bled. The idea of it made a wicked grin spread across his face, _‘But why stop there? Kill them. They deserve to die.’_

 _‘What?!’_ a jolt of fear suddenly ran through Jeff, clearing the fog that had invaded his head. His eyes were wide and terrified, the grin that had adorned his face having transformed into a look of horror at the things his mind had come up with. The ice in his veins had vanished. It was almost as though he had woken up from a nightmare. The teen could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He took in a shaky breath and let it out, trying to calm himself, but it was no use. He couldn’t turn his mind away from what had just occurred, three thoughts playing on loop in his head, _‘That wasn’t me! Those weren’t my thoughts! What’s happening to me…?’_

The boy dug his hands into his dark shoulder-length hair and choked back a sob, confused and scared. He didn’t know how long he sat there like that before his breath finally began to even out and his pulse began to slow to its normal pace, but by the time Jeff glanced around to see if anybody had noticed his little freak out only one or two students remained outside of the building. Seeing this, Jeff grabbed his bag and painfully pulled himself to his feet, his arms and knees still sore from the earlier impact with the pavement. He hurried into the school, hoping to get to class on time and resolving never to share what had just occurred with anybody.

* * *

“The Glasgow Smile, or Chelsea Grin, was a form of torture that originated in the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties and was often used as a sort of warning or punishment for those that would try standing up to the gangs. It later became popular among London Street gangs, namely the Chelsea Headhunters. It was made by cutting a line across the victim’s face from the corners of the mouth to the ears, creating a mark that resembled a smile. Though not as popular as it was back then this grisly torture is still occasional used today.” Jeff listened to his world history teacher drone out his lesson about British gangs, cheek propped up on his fist with his elbow resting on the desk holding his notebook in place. He used his other hand to copy down the notes for the lesson as they were presented in the PowerPoint presentation being shown to the class. The students were all much more interested in the lesson than the teacher for once, each of them watching intently as the gruff man at the front of the room switched to the next slide. The room erupted in a chorus of gasps and statements of shock as a picture of the injury that had just been described appeared before them. The blue-eyed teen even thought he heard somebody that sounded suspiciously like Randy say “Cool!”

While his class reacted in awe or disgust around him Jeff regarded the image numbly, sketching it in his notebook to go with the notes. It didn’t bother him in the slightest and he wasn’t sure why. If he had to guess he would say it was likely because his own mind had managed to conjure up some more gruesome and far-too-detailed images itself earlier that day. It had probably desensitized him. As he saw one kid actually run out of the room to vomit he was a little glad for whatever was suffocating his emotions right now.

Class continued much the same way with the teacher continuing the presentation and shocking students with the brutality of gangs. When the bell rang the majority of the teenagers fled the room as quickly as their legs could carry them. Jeff doubted many of them would be eating lunch that day. He was the last one to leave the room, folding up his assignment for the evening and sticking it in the pocket on his hoodie. It was a habit he had developed after the three stooges started making him do their homework. When they took his bag in the morning they liked to tear up his remaining papers after taking what they needed, so he switched from carrying it in his bag to carrying it in his pockets.

As Jeff walked out of the class room something collided with his ankle, causing him to stumble forward once again. This time his shoulder ended up colliding with one of the lockers on the other side of the narrow corridor but he managed to remain standing. He turned to look in the direction he had just come from to see Randy standing there, his two friends off to the side. Jeff opened his mouth to speak but before he had the opportunity to utter a single sound Randy had strutted over to him and landed a strong punch to his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Another beating in between classes- was this the fourth or fifth he’d had today? No matter what he tried to do to avoid them Randy, Troy and Keith always managed to catch him. The familiar anger ignited inside of him and he bared his teeth, letting out a low growl as he turned a glare on his attacker. Then the cold began to work its way in again, far more quickly than before. That made him pause. Jeff didn’t want to know what horrible things the ice that threatened to take him over could bring and he forced it back down in a panic.

Randy didn’t seem to notice Jeff’s internal struggle. Instead he punched the smaller teen again, sending Jeff crashing back into the lockers. The boy’s head smacked into the metal, filling his vision with stars. He crumbled to the ground and lay there for a moment, unmoving. Everything around him suddenly sounded very far away and there was a quiet ringing in his ears, but he could have sworn he heard Kevin ask, “Is he dead?”

“’course not!” this time it was Troy. Then he felt a sharp kick to the stomach that brought on a coughing fit. Above him Randy shouted, “Get up!”

Jeff groaned but began to pull himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the lockers for support. His vision was clearing and the ringing sound was fading, but he still felt a little unsteady. Before he could ruminate on whether he had a concussion or not his feet were swept out from under him and he collided with the cold tile floor again.

Jeff’s tormentors laughed as he picked himself up. Randy roughly shoved a few pieces of paper into his hands that he only barely managed to hold on to, telling him, “You forgot our homework, dork. And thanks for lunch.”

The three bullies sauntered off down the empty hallway towards the lunch room, one of them with a little cooler in hand. Jeff watched them go, still half-dazed. He continued to watch for a few seconds after they disappeared around the corner, his abused brain taking a little longer to process their absence. The teen then opened up his bag and shoved the papers is, noting the fact that the small cooler that held his lunch was missing. Apparently one of them had taken it while he was being beaten senseless.

With a sigh Jeff trudged off to the cafeteria. When he arrived he scanned the room. His eyes landed on his brother sitting at a table near the back wall with a few of his friends and Jeff picked his way through the crowded space to fall into the seat beside him. The dark haired boy proceeded to bury his head in his arms on the table.

“Randy took your lunch again?” Liu asked as his brother sat down next to him. Jeff turned his head to look at his sibling and huffed, a frown tugging at his lips, “Yeah. You know, I bet they take it for Troy. I don’t really know how much a baby elephant eats but I’d imagine it’s a ton.”

The comment made the taller boy chuckle. It was a sound that lifted Jeff’s mood. He sat up and gave his brother a wry smile. Liu shook his head, smile plastered across his own face as well, and momentarily turned back to the cooler on the table in front of him. He took a few items out and offered them to the other teen, “Here. I brought extra.”

“Ah, you’re the best!” Jeff exclaimed, taking the proffered items gratefully and giving his older brother a quick side hug, “Thank you, Liu! I don’t you what I’d do without you!”

“Starve.” Liu snorted in response. Then immediately the boy’s face fell, all of the joviality from a moment before draining out of him. He ran a hand through his dirty blond locks. His tone was serious as he said, “You can’t keep letting those guys push you around.”

Jeff sighed, fidgeting with the tab on his can of cola, “I know. My therapist said something like that too. It’s just, I can’t get them in trouble with Randy’s father being in charge of discipline and talking about it with mom and dad is just too difficult… I don’t want them to be disappointed in me… I’ll think of something.”

* * *

Jeff’s remaining classes passed just as the previous ones: with him taking notes and getting beaten up on his way from one room to another. It took a monumental effort to keep his anger from getting the better of him and, in turn, keep that strange new feeling at bay. Finally though the school day ended and the pale teen was free of his bullies once more. He and Liu made their way home, the younger boy lost in thought throughout the trek. He had been considering what both his therapist and his older sibling had told him, running every possible solution that he could think of through his mind. Obviously telling the school wouldn’t work. He had already tried that and gotten detention for it. Not to mention that the abuse he had received from Randy the next day had been even worse because of it. He couldn’t tell his parents. While he didn’t know exactly how they would react he was certain that would be disappointed and worried. They would probably also want to tell the school, which wouldn’t do any good. Just walking away wasn’t really working either. That only left one option: fight back. There was just one problem with that…

“Hey, Liu?” Jeff suddenly asked, halting his steps. His brother, who had gotten a few step ahead of him, stopped and looked at the shorter teen. He gave a simple “hmm?” in reply to encourage his sibling to continue. Jeff fidgeted with the sleeve of his hoodie, uncertainty written across his face as he asked, “Can we stop by the library really quick?”

“Sure, but… why?” Liu responded, furrowing his brow in confusion. Asking to go to the library was nothing to be nervous about but Jeff was clearly on edge. The darker haired teen was quiet for a moment, his gaze focused on his hands, which were playing with the edges of his sleeves. Eventually, the boy took a deep breath and answered, “I need to pick up some instructional videos. I’m taking your advice. I’m going to learn how to fight so I can defend myself.”

Jeff watched for his brother’s reaction. There was so much they were already keeping secret. He had asked a lot of Liu since they started their new school and the taller boy had agreed every time. Given his temper Jeff worried that this particular request might be asking too much. He watched as the young man standing before him pursed his lips, seeming to mull over the request. For a few long agonizing minutes Jeff waited in anticipation of a rejection. Then, finally, Liu spoke and what he said left Jeff stunned, “Alright. Let’s go.”

Liu turned and kept walking, this time in the direction of the library. It took a few seconds for Jeff to recover from his surprise before he hurried to catch up with his sibling, following him to the nearby library. The older boy sighed as they walked, “You know, mom and dad won’t be happy if they find out about this.”

“We’re not going to tell them.” Jeff replied, thinking along the same lines as his brother, “That’s why the first rule of fight club is ‘you don’t talk about fight club’.”

* * *

The brothers spent a few minutes at the library looking at the small collection of videos the building held. There wasn’t much to choose from but Jeff found a few instructional films on boxing and martial arts and, satisfied enough with their finds, the boys finally made their way home. The two of them sat down in the living room to complete their homework, Jeff having to complete the same assignments four times, and then went their separate ways. Liu climbed the stairs to his room and put in a video game to play while his brother began his first lesson on how to fight. Jeff soon discovered that he was something of a natural, mastering the lessons with surprising ease. He managed to breeze through the first few lessons before the hour arrived for his parents to return home. By the time the two adults entered to building all indication that their son was learning something they wouldn’t approve of was safely hidden away and everything appeared to be exactly as it should be. Only vague answers were given by the two boys when their father asked how their day had been and the conversation quickly turned to other things. That evening, Jeff fell asleep with a new fire burning in his chest. Unlike the scorching inferno of rage that the bizarre frigid feelings road in on, this fire was shining and beautiful and gentle. It was a flame of hope and though it was small right now Jeff knew that it would grow.

The next few days went by in much the same manner as the first. Jeff and Liu attended school where Randy, Troy and Keith did everything they could think of to make Jeff’s life a living hell then after school the blue-eyed teen would return home and go through more fighting lessons until his parents were almost back. Despite the fact that nothing had really changed for him in school yet the young man felt lighter than he had since moving into the neighborhood. Each day as he learned more his confidence increased and that tiny flame of hope that had found its home in his core grew until, finally on Thursday, Jeff took a stand against his tormentors. Throughout the day he dodged their blows in the hallways, managed to keep his lunch and outright refused to do their homework anymore. By the end of the day Jeff felt like he was walking on air.

“You know, it’s great to finally see you smile again.” Liu expressed to his brother as they walked home from school that afternoon. Jeff laced his fingers behind his head, a huge grin spread across his face, “It’s great to _be_ smiling again. I think things are finally looking up!”

The brothers continued to chat about the events of the day as they turned a corner, but were immediately cut off as a fist suddenly made contact with Jeff’s stomach and sent him to the ground. Randy stood before him with his arms crossed over his chest, glowering down at the smaller teen with daggers in his eyes. If looks could kill Jeff would be a dead man.

“‘seems you’ve forgotten your place. You’ve shown me a lot of disrespect today and I don’t appreciate it.” The bully spat, his voicing dripping venom. He threw another punch at Jeff, but this time the pale teen was prepared for it and sprang to his feet, swiftly dodging the strike. Randy let out an angry snarl and swung at him, delivering blow after blow, but Jeff managed to evade the fists as they rained down on him and put some distance between himself and his attacker.

The two of them stood there facing one another, Randy looking as though he were ready to commit homicide and Jeff taking up a stance with his fists raised, ready to fend the bully off should he make a move. Then Randy’s murderous expression shifted into a superior smirk and he leaned back, crossing his arms again. Even though he hadn’t landed a single hit the muscular boy looked for all the world as though he had just won something. A moment later Jeff found out why as Troy and Keith moved into view, holding a struggling Liu by his arms.

“If I can’t beat _you_ up, I’ll just have to beat _him_ up instead.” Randy told him, jabbing his thumb in Liu’s direction. His two lackeys held the older boy tightly, restraining his movements and leaving plenty of area for their boss to strike. Randy shifted, preparing to deliver a punch to Liu. Fear and concern washed over Jeff in that instant and he dropped his stance, desperately calling out, “Wait! Don’t! He’s not involved in this! Please! I’ll come quietly! I don’t care what you do to me but please don’t hurt Liu!”

“No, Jeff! Run!” his brother shouted in reply, the same concern and fear Jeff felt mirrored in his sibling’s eyes. Randy merely laughed at their display, “Too late for that.”

The muscular teen pulled back his fist and struck the boy his friends had restrained. Liu screamed in pain as the fist made contact with his face. Troy and Keith released his arms and the blond fell to his knees clutching his eye.

Then Jeff saw red.

The next few minutes went by in a blur that the boy could barely recall. The noise of the world had quieted to a whisper and time seemed to move in slow motion. That flicker of hope inside of him had been extinguished the moment he saw his brother taken captive but it became replaced with a burning rage unlike anything he had ever felt before when Randy _hurt_ Liu. His blood was boiling in his veins. He remembered swinging at Randy and knew his fist made contact. Something wet and sticky and _red_ had burst forth from the boy’s face where he had been punched, coating Jeff’s fist and staining the sleeve of his hoodie. There wasn’t enough conscious thought in his mind to wonder if he broke the boy’s nose or not. As he went in for another strike the cold started to creep in and this time he didn’t fight it. It was as though he’d plunged headfirst into a frozen lake. The frigid chill washed over him and turned his heart to ice. A wicked grin spread across Jeff’s face that promised nothing but agony for his victim.

He dropped and swept Randy’s legs out from under him, causing the boy to fall flat on the concrete, and then stood over him, pressing the heel of his shoe into the teen’s gut. Somebody, Troy, grabbed Jeff from behind and tried to drag him back away from Randy but the pale youth elbowed him sharply in the stomach. The heavyset teen relinquished his hold so he could wrap his arms around the injured area, groaning. Free, Jeff spun around and delivered a left hook to the side of his head, sending the rotund boy to the pavement.

“Jeff!” a familiar voice shouted, though for a moment he couldn’t quite pinpoint who it belonged to. It sounded worlds away. It wasn’t until it spoke again that he realized the voice was that of his brother, “Look out!”

Suddenly, reality came crashing back down on him and with it, rational thought. Time returned to its normal speed, the noise of the world filtered back in, and everything looked a lot less _red_. Jeff only narrowly managed to evade Keith as the lanky teen lunged at him. As the human stick bug tumbled to the ground the pale boy rushed over to his sibling and took him by the hand, pulling him with him as he ran with only a shout of, “Come on! Let’s get out of here before they get up!”

The brothers ran the rest of the way home, winded and panting by the time they stepped through their front door into the safety of their house. Once the boys caught their breath, they looked at one another, their eyes wide with fear. Neither of them fully understood what had just happened. They had been _attacked_ on their way home. Who-knows-what terrible things had _almost_ been done to Liu. They would, _thankfully_ , never find out because Jeff had fought their attackers off. He fought them off with startling _brutality_. The thought of it _almost_ scared them, but it had been to _protect_ Liu. It was _self-defense_ , not brutality for brutality’s sake. What the bullies had done and what Jeff had done _weren’t_ the same thing.

It was all too much to process. It was _almost_ too much to rationalize.

As their adrenaline began to fade and their minds stopped racing at a million miles per minute the two boys took stock of one another. Jeff reached a tentative hand up, hesitating for a second, and brushed his thumb over his older brother’s cheek bone just below the eye socket, “Oh, Liu, your eye… I’m so sorry…”

“It’s not your fault.” The blond shook his head, dismissing the apology and carefully removing his sibling’s hand. “How bad is it?”

Jeff cringed, “Ehh… It’s not… _that_ bad. You should probably put some ice on it. And you’ll probably want to wear sunglasses for the next few days.”

“And you’ll want to throw that jacket in the wash before mom and dad get home.” Liu told his younger brother, pointing to the blood stained sleeve of the hoodie in question. Jeff nodded and the two made their way to their destinations. Liu took an ice pack from the freezer and headed up to his room so his parents wouldn’t see him while Jeff stripped off his hoodie and threw it in the washer with some bleach. The two boys had agreed that, if their parents asked, Liu was tired after gym and went to sleep early then Jeff would sneak dinner up to him later in the evening.

* * *

The next morning Jeff was actually the first to leave his room, making his way downstairs half asleep like usual. He waved goodbye to his father then proceeded to the dining room where, for a brief moment, he was surprised not to see his brother.

Margaret sat in her usual place at the table, already eating breakfast. She looked up as her son entered and immediately sighed, “Jeff, is that really what you’re wearing today?”

“Hmm?” the tired boy questioned, glancing down at his outfit. He was wearing black pants, his usual high top sneakers, a black t-shirt and a white hoodie. Nothing seemed out of place and he hadn’t forgotten anything.

His mother must have noticed his confusion because she sighed again and explained, “It’s class picture day, Jeff. You should wear something nice, and brush your hair.”

“What I’m wearing is fine, mom.” Jeff groaned, running a hand through his dark shaggy locks in an attempt to make his hair a little less messy, “Besides, I’m going to be one teenager out of a hundred. Nobody’s even going to notice me.”

“Honestly, Jeff.” Margaret sighed in exasperation for the third time in as many minutes, “If you made more of an effort you might have more friends, or a girlfriend. It’s not good for you to be alone all the time.”

Jeff rolled his eyes and stated, “I’m not alone, Mom. I have Liu. Isn’t that the point of having two kids? So neither is ever alone?”

“I swear, you’re going to be the death of me someday. You need more than just your brother to be happy.” The woman frowned at her youngest son’s response, “And speaking of your brother, I can’t believe he’s still asleep.”

“Yeah, I heard his gym class was really bad yesterday. I’ll go check on him. We should be getting to school anyway.” The pale teen told his mother. He grabbed two apples out of the fruit bowl on the table before leaving the room. Jeff climbed the stairs to the second floor of the house and moved over to his brother’s room, knocking on the door. Moments later the door opened to reveal Liu, already dressed and wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide his black eye. Jeff held out one of the apples, which Liu took with a quiet “thank you”, and the boys headed out of the house, grabbing their school bags on the way.

The Woods siblings were on edge as they walked to school, constantly looking over their shoulders and glancing around in case Randy, Troy or Keith were lurking around. By the time they reached their destination their nerves were beyond frayed. Arriving without incident did nothing help the situation, instead it just made the two boys feel worse.

The other shoe finally dropped when Jeff and Liu entered the school building. They walked through the front doors and were about to go their separate ways when two of the uniformed part-time security officers that worked for the school approached them, asking, “Jeffrey and Liu Woods?”

“We’re going to need you to come with us to the dean’s office.” One of the officers informed them after they confirmed their identities. The brothers shared a look with one another and followed the men through the halls towards the administration office. The students that they passed on the way stared at them and whispered among themselves, no doubt starting rumors as to why the two new kids were being escorted through the corridors by security.

They were ushered into the room immediately upon reaching the office and guided over to the two chairs in front of the desk on the far side of the room where a surly muscular man that bared a striking resemblance to Randy sat, regarding the teens as though they were something he’d stepped in. He spoke as soon as they sat down, “I’ll make this quick. I received a report of an altercation that took place after school yesterday where a student was attacked. The victim has identified you, Liu Woods, as his attacker.”

“With all due respect, Sir, that’s not how it happened.” The elder Woods brother stated, his tone level, “Randy and his friends, Troy and Keith, attacked _us_ on our way home from school. We’re the victims here.”

“That will be enough of that.” The dean of students snapped at the boy, “I’m not going to let you place the blame for your actions on the victim of your crimes. We’ll be scheduling a date for your expulsion hearing. Until that time you’ll be suspended, effective immediately.”

Jeff shot up from his chair, anger boiling up inside him, “No! You can’t do that! Liu didn’t do anything wrong! _I_ was the one Randy came after! _I_ was the one that got in a fight with him! Suspend _me_!”

“The victim was very clear about who was responsible, young man. Save your attempts to take the blame for your brother. It’s not going to work.” The man declared with finality. Before Jeff could get another word out he felt a hand on his arm and looked over to see Liu. His brother gave him a reassuring smile and said, “Just… let it go for now. It’s fine. We’ll get this sorted out. Don’t worry.”

“Security, escort Liu Woods back to his home and make sure his brother gets to class.” The dean commanded, handing one of the security officers a key, no doubt to one of the school’s transport vehicles that were only used when a student was in trouble or ill and either their parents couldn’t pick them up or they couldn’t be relied upon to return home on their own. The officer guided Liu out, leaving the other to take Jeff to his homeroom class.

Jeff was fuming. His rage simmered inside him all day, completely distracting him from the fact that he hadn’t seen any of his bullies at all since the school day began. It wasn’t until the afternoon that the three degenerates made their appearance.

Jeff was on his way to the gymnasium, trailing behind the rest of the students in his year, when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly tossed him a few feet down the corridor. He got to his feet, taking up a fighting stance, but suddenly a glistening object sailed through the air and made contact near his shoulder, burying itself in the soft flesh. He screamed in pain, falling back against the door of the janitor’s closet he had landed in front of. The hand attached to the other end of the shiny object pulled back, taking the weapon with it and eliciting another scream from Jeff’s lungs as more pain shot through his body. His vision was blurred, but he could make out the forms of Randy, Troy, and Keith standing over him, poised to strike again.

“So, _Jeff_ ,” Randy slurred, delivering a strong kick to the pale teen’s ribs, “You think it’s _funny_ beating me and my boys up on a street corner? You think I’m just going to let you _walk away_ after that? Is it still _funny_ , Jeff? Who’s smiling now?!”

Each question was punctuated with another kick which Troy and Keith had joined in on, laughing like idiots. By the end Randy was practically screaming. When they got in their fill of pummeling him the lead bully reached down and grasped a fist-full of Jeff’s hoodie, hoisting him back to his feet. The dark haired boy could smell alcohol and cigarette smoke lingering on his attacker’s breath as he spoke, “You know what I think? I think you need to be taught a lesson. You need to be made an example of. If you start thinking you’re allowed to stand up to us other people are gonna get the same idea, so you’re gonna serve as a warning, just like they taught us in class Monday.”

At the conclusion of his statement Randy dropped Jeff to the ground and knelt in front of him, bring the knife in his hand to Jeff’s face. The pale youth attempted to make a run for it, but Troy and Keith grabbed him and pinned him down.

Pained exploded in Jeff’s face as Randy’s knife began to cut into his cheek, starting at the corner of his mouth and drawing a curved line towards his ears. He screeched like a wounded animal and tried to thrash about, but he was held firmly by the bullies until their leader completed his task. The shrieking continued well after he was released as agony tore through him, drowning out the laughter of his tormentors.

The next thing he knew he was choking. Jeff coughed and sputtered as liquid was poured over him, some of it finding its way into his mouth. The stuff smelled foul and tasted even worse and it made his wounds burn as though they had been lit on fire. Above him, Randy was talking, “… and the best part is that when they find you they’re gonna think you did this to yourself. I’ll tell my dad I saw you outside drinking at lunch. Now that you reek of alcohol who’s gonna question it? They’ll all think ‘oh, he was so upset about his brother getting thrown out of school’. Try it again and he’ll be getting the same treatment I just gave you!”

Jeff’s eyes widened at hearing this threat to his brother. Suddenly, something inside him snapped and adrenaline began pumping through his veins along with the strange biting cold he had felt before. It was stronger now than ever. It was so cold it burned. He let out a feral-sounding snarl and launched himself at Randy, tackling him to ground. All of the pain he was in seemed very far away, buried under a sheet of ice. He punched the muscular teen repeatedly with as much strength as he could muster, but he only managed to get in a few good hits before his prey managed to shove him off, his weakened body crashing into the door behind him. Randy scrambled to his feet and made to kick him, letting out a snarl of his own, but Jeff saw the knife his prey had dropped when they’d fallen. He grabbed it, a crazed smile taking over his facial features as he stabbed the blade into Randy’s leg. The taller boy let out a piercing scream as he was stabbed, falling to the ground and clutching his injured leg. Seeing this, Troy and Keith moved in, grabbing Jeff on either side and throwing him into the janitor’s closet where he collided with the shelving unit on the back wall. Several of the shelves fell down around the teenager and their contents cascaded to the tile floor. A container of bleach from the top shelf burst open on impact, coating the boy in the cleaning solution.

In the hallway, Randy had recovered enough to glower at Jeff. He snarled and fished a lighter out of his pocket, flicking it on and throwing it into the closet. The flame made contact with some of the chemicals that has spilled on the ground, igniting them and sending the tiny room up in flames within moments. Jeff heard Randy shout, “Troy, help me up! Keith, shut that door and lock it!” before the flames reached him. He was vaguely aware of the door closing as the fire spread across his clothes and his skin, reacting with the alcohol and chemicals he had been covered in. His body and mind pushed passed their limits, Jeff finally sank into oblivion.

* * *

The next thing Jeff became aware of was yelling. Frantic voices called to one another from all around him, but he could only make out some of what they were saying, “We need to get this boy to the OR, stat!”

“His vitals are dropping!”

“-and get me thirty CCs of-“

“He’s flatlin-“

Oblivion claimed the teen once more.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he became aware again, his senses coming back to him slowly as he regained consciousness. He could hear machines whirring and beeping from somewhere beside him and see a white ceiling speckled with black. He tried to move, but found himself unable to, so he tried to scream, but found that he couldn’t open his mouth so the noise was muffled. It seemed to have been loud enough to attract attention, however, as the face of a young woman soon filled his vision. She stared down at him with a smiled and said, “Oh! You’re awake! Hold on just a moment and I’ll bring your family in to see you.”

Jeff heard a door close somewhere in the room before it was flung open again. Somebody called his name before the three worried faces of his family appeared within his field of vision. He tried to speak, but the sound was muffled and unintelligible. Liu gave him an awkward, lop-sided smile with a hint of sadness to it, saying, “I’m so glad you’re alive! I would hug you but they told us we shouldn’t yet.”

Jeff merely stared up at his brother, unable to do much else. He noticed that Liu’s black eye was healed and a part of him wondered how long he had been in hospital. His parents then started in on telling him about how much they had been worried and how glad they were that he was still alive. Jeff only half listened to them. Before long he found himself having trouble keeping his eyes opened and soon drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

The first weeks the teen spent in hospital passed this way, with his family talking to him for a while and him periodically falling asleep. As the days wore on he was able to remain awake for longer. In this time he’d learned that he had suffered severe burns all over his body, that Randy and his friends had been arrested after the police reviewed the school’s security footage and saw what they’d done, Randy’s father had also been arrested as it came out that he’d been covering up his son’s long list of criminal acts, and Liu’s suspension had been lifted with all plans for expulsion forgotten.

When Jeff’s family wasn’t there he was left alone with his thoughts, so he daydreamed. He imagined Randy, Troy and Keith, imagined himself slowly peeling away their flesh with a kitchen knife, reveling in their agonized screams and pleas for him to stop. He imagined slicing a permanent smile into their faces just as they had done to him, their pained shrieks only serving to tear the wounds open further. He imagined stabbing them over and over again, feeling their lifeblood gush out of them and seeing the light fade from their eyes as they died in anguish at his hands.

Eventually new characters began to find their way into these imaginary scenes in the forms of those around him. The nurses that changed his bandages, the doctors that stood with his parents giving them updates on his condition… his parents themselves… they all became actors in the gruesome films that played through the boy’s broken mind.

As time wore on Jeff’s physical condition improved while what little had been left of his sanity dwindled away. Though limited at first, after a few weeks he was able to move and speak again. The bandages had begun to cover less and less of him. He stopped counting the weeks after the first month, choosing instead to lose himself in the movies his twisted mind created for him. Before he knew it, the day arrived for the last of Jeff’s bandages to be removed and for him to return home.

His entire family gathered in his hospital room, standing around his bed. They held their breath in anticipation, having been warned of the worst but hoping for the best. The nurse in the room moved over to the side of the bed where Jeff sat and began to remove the bandages. When the final one fell away and the woman moved, giving a full view of the damage, the three oldest members of the Woods family let out a collective gasp at the sight. They stared at the teen’s face in shock, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“A mirror. I need a mirror!” Jeff quickly demanded in response to the reaction, eager to see what it was about his new face that would inspire such a reaction. The nurse hesitated for a moment before leaving the room, returning seconds later with a hand mirror that she passed to the boy.

Jeff gazed intently into the reflective surface, drinking in his new appearance. He had always thought he was pale before, but that had nothing on the way he looked now. His skin appeared as though all of the color had been bleached out of it until it was the pure white shade of the winter snow. The Chelsea grin that had been carved into his face seemed to have healed differently, perhaps it had been cauterized; he didn’t know. The red of it stuck out in sharp contract against his stark white skin. Looking closer Jeff noticed that he no longer seemed to have eyelashes and a smoky blackness covered his eyelids. It could almost be mistaken for expertly applied makeup, but only almost.

A too-wide smiled spread across the teen’s face as he took in the details of his new horrifying visage. He dropped his head into his hands, rubbing them against the skin, his raven hair cascading down around him and obscuring his family’s view of his face. His entire body began to shake with silent laughter. Distantly he heard Liu, who had apparently recovered first, try to reassure him, “It’s not… _that_ bad. I’m sure we can find a way to cover up the scars… There’s always plastic surgery…”

“Oh, no… I’m keeping it. Let the whole world see me!” Jeff replied, allowing the hysterical laughter to bubble up from inside of him. He fell back on the bed, arms wrapped around his stomach, laughing like a mad man.

“I’ll… get the doctor.” The disfigured teen heard the nurse say before she left the room. Moments later the door opened again and somebody entered. Jeff hadn’t stopped laughing.

“Doctor… is our son… Are there any concerns we should have about his mental health?” Peter Woods asked in a whisper that his son only just caught, wrapping his arm around his distraught wife. The doctor was silent for a minute. He then ran his hand through his hair and sighed, “I can’t answer that. I’m not that kind of doctor. All I know for certain is that he’s physically as healthy as he can be given what he went through. Such an experience would no doubt be very traumatic. It’s certainly possible that he could develop issues, like PTSD, because of that trauma but I wouldn’t even know where to begin diagnosing such a thing. I’d suggest you have him see a psychiatrist to be evaluated. If things get out hand before then you can call this number.”

Jeff’s father took this crushing news with a nod, accepting the card he was handed, “Thank you, Doctor. We appreciate your honesty. I believe we should all be going now.”

Jeff’s manic laughter had died down to a quiet chuckle while the adults had been talking. Liu sat next to him on the bed, trying to engage his sibling in some sort of conversation. He was only partially successful but that seemed to be enough for him. Their mother approached them as the doctor left the room, informing the boys that they were going to be leaving the hospital. The family then vacated the space to let Jeff get dressed. The clothes he arrived in hadn’t been salvageable, so his family had brought him something from his closet: black pants, a dark grey t-shirt, a white hoodie, and a pair of high top sneakers that had to be new seeing as the ones he had been wearing would have been charcoal.

With everything in order the Woods family returned to their home, a wide grin showing far too many teeth spread across the youngest member’s face the entire time.

* * *

Jeff couldn’t sleep. Images swam through his head as he sat by the window in his room that night, just like the films his shattered mind had directed while he was in hospital. In this particular ghastly production he took a knife from the kitchen and quietly crept into his parent’s bedroom, slitting their throats as they slumbered, watching them wake too late to save themselves and struggle to stanch the bleeding. The image of his parent’s lifeless bodies was seared into his mind, calling out to him in a way that he barely understood but couldn’t resist.

Jeff stood up from his spot by the window and silently made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. He waved as he passed by the front door, but unlike in the morning there was nobody there to wave back. The teen ran his hand over the handles of the knives in the drawer. They felt strange. Everything had felt strange since he had first woken up in his hospital room. He recalled overhearing a doctor tell his mother at one point that such severe burns could have an effect on his sense of touch.

Unsatisfied with the selection of blades the drawer had to offer the boy moved over to the knife block on the counter. His fingers danced across the hilts of each before they found the blade that was beckoning to him. He wrapped his hand around the hilt and drew his chosen weapon from the block, pulling out a massive chef’s knife. A deranged smile took over his face and he admired the glistening blade, something dangerous and feral lurking in his eyes.

The disfigured teen then returned to the second floor of the house, creeping over to his parent’s bedroom and slowly pushing the door open, careful not to make even the smallest sound. His parents lay there in their nightclothes, wrapped up in blankets and sleeping soundly. Jeff carefully made his way over to his father’s side of the bed. In a swift motion he slashed the knife across the man’s throat, blood gushing forward and spurting onto his hoodie. The man woke to the sight of his son, covered in fresh blood and smiling wickedly. He flailed wildly, clutching at his throat and gurgling, either trying to say something or trying to scream. A pool of red spread out around him, staining the bed and dripping over the side onto the floor. Then his struggles ceased and he fell limp and lifeless against his red-stained pillow.

“Peter?” the woman on the other side of the bed asked groggily. The commotion had stirred her from her slumber, but she wasn’t entirely awake yet. Jeff darted over to his mother’s side of the bed and quickly stabbed the knife through her throat. She coughed and spluttered, red blossoming on her lips. Margaret grabbed for the knife in a desperate attempt to pull it out, but only managed to cut up her fingers on the blade. Jeff twisted his weapon in the woman’s neck and swept it to the side. It tore through muscle and cartilage before exiting the body, spraying blood on the headboard in a beautiful arc. The woman’s head lolled to the side, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. Then she fell back against the pillows, dead.

Jeff stood back, regarding the grisly scene with a mad delight, another bout of crazed laughter bubbling up from inside of him. He was still chuckling as he moved out the door of the darkened room into the hall, lit only by the moonlight filtering in through the window. He was about to head downstairs when the sound of a door opening caught his attention. He turned his gaze towards the source of the noise to see a sleepy Liu standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

The boy’s older brother yawned, rubbing at one of his eye, before asking, “Jeff? What’s going on?”

Jeff turned his grin on his sibling. When he spoke, his voice was calm but there was a dark chill to it, “Nothing, Liu. Just go to sleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> While writing this Liu's hair color had me confused. It's never outright stated in the original and I've seen tons of pictures of him but I can't tell if his hair is light brown or dirty blond in those pictures so I just picked one and went with it.  
> This is probably the longest non-chaptered story I've written in a while. Let me tell you, it was a pain. I hate writing fight scenes and there's a lot of them in there. I ended up writing it really differently than my other stories too. Usually I write everything all at once directly from beginning to end but this time I kind of wrote it in pieces from various sections of the story, not really in chronological order, then played connect the dots with those snippets of story.  
> It also ended up a few hundred words longer than I intended.


End file.
